Dozens dead in wave of attacks in Iraq

At least 30 people have been killed in a wave of attacks mostly targeting Shiite areas in the south of Iraq.

Two car bombs exploded minutes apart in the predominantly Shiite southern oil hub of Basra, 420 kilometres south-east of Baghdad, killing at least five people and tearing off shop fronts.

"We heard a bang and rushed outside," said Ali Fadhil, who was working at a nearby bakery.

"I saw cars on fire, dead bodies covered with blood, and wounded people lying on the ground screaming for help.

"When police arrived, a second blast struck which was more powerful, leaving the street in a state of total destruction."

Another car bomb exploded in a busy market in the Shiite holy city of Najaf, killing at least seven people, and blasts also targeted Shiites in Nassiriya, Kut, Hilla, Tuz Khurmato and Mahmudiya in southern Baghdad.

Near the northern city of Mosul, gunmen shot dead six policemen at a checkpoint in Hadhar, police said.

Growing tensions between Sunnis and Shiites

The latest wave of attacks come against a backdrop of increasing tensions between the country's Sunni Muslim minority and the Shiite majority.

More than 1,000 people were killed in militant attacks in May, according to the United Nations, making it Iraq's deadliest month since the inter-communal strife of 2006-07.

Martin Kobler, the special representative of the UN's secretary-general, described the attacks as remorseless acts of terrorism and called on Iraq's political leaders to put an end to the sectarian violence.

Regional sectarian tensions have been inflamed by the conflict in neighbouring Syria, where Sunni rebels are fighting to overthrow a leader backed by Shiite Iran.

Sunnis in Iraq resent Shiite domination since 2003 and have been crossing into Syria to fight against president Bashar al-Assad.

Iraqi Shiite militia and Lebanese Hezbollah guerrillas have also joined the war on Mr Assad's side.